Article of furniture



Sept. 24, 3935. A. D. FULLER ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed Aug. 51, 1933 2 iihee zs-Sheet l '4 M 7 m 72 w M X W d/ w F a 9 4 6 J 5 J W wd J 7 5 m a 4 5:; 7 0y.

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Mafi -W l? a Sept. 24,, 1935. A. D. FULLER I ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filsd Aug. 31, 1935 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 24, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention relates to furniture for storage purposes and for use as tables, benches, desks and other articles of furniture and especially pieces of office furniture, for secretarial use and stor- 5 age of typewriting machines and supplies and preferably having two levels of table or desk tops.

My invention will be best understood from the following description when read in light of the accompanying drawings of a specific embodiment 10 of my invention selected for illustrative purposes, for the scope of my invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A feature of my invention is the provision of storage facilities in any article of furniture.

Another feature is economy of floor space whether used by one operator or by a plurality of operators simultaneously.

Other features will be described below.

In the drawings 20 Figure 1 is an elevation of an article of furnitureready for use and embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan of the same;

Figure 3 is a plan similar to that of Figure 2 with the left platform shown in a difierent posi- 25 tion;

Figure 4 is an end elevation looking in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 and showing the top in raised position;

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 2,

30 on a larger scale, with the top raised and also showing a typewriting machine in full lines in its position for use and in dotted lines for its storage position;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section 35 on line 6-6 of Figure 7, illustrating drawers and their mounting and the bottom support and the demountable connection, all described more fully below;

Figure '7 is a perspective detail described be- Figure 8 is a detailed section on line 8-8 of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a perspective of the drawer hereinafter described; and

45 Figure 10 is a perspective showing the angle -iron connections of the frame members.

I have illustrated my invention as embodied in an article of furniture in which top I is hinged at 2 to back 6. Back member 6 and posts I and 50 8 and horizontal members 9 and I are all suitably connected together in fixed relation, as by angle irons. Member ll connects together the tops of posts I and 8. Member l2 connects the upper portion of post I with the back 6 and member l3 similarly connects the upper portion of post 8 with back 8. Members 6 to l8 form the frame of my article as shown in Figure '7. Member l4 connects the lower portion of post I with back 6 forming a closure for that portion of the end of the frame and also sup- 5 ports the drawers described below. Member l5 similarly connects the lower portion of post 8 with back 6 forming a closure for that portion of the end of the frame. Member I6 is a filler member which connects, below member l2, the

post I with the back 6 and forms a closure of the end between members 9 and I2 on that end of the frame. At the other side of the frame is a member l'l forming a similar closure at its end of the frame. All the members so far described may be connected together when in use as by angle irons as shown in Figures 6 and 10 or by other suitable connecting means, but these members are readily disconnected so that the members may be shipped in very compact form.

Member I8 is hinged at l9 to post I so that it may be used in the position of Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 or in any position intermediate of that position and the position of Figure 3. Member l8 has a recess 20 to receive the links described below. Member 23 is hinged to member l8 at 24 so that it may occupy the position shown in Figures 1 to 5 or it may be swung into the plane of member Hi to partially close an opening 25 in member l8, at which time the remainder of the opening is closed by member l2, thus preventing the entrance of dust and preventing undesired access to the interior of the cabinet. When member 23 is swung open to act as a back for a shelf 26 in the latters horizontal position, a projection 30 of shelf 26 closes the bottom of opening 25.

Shelf member 26 is hinged at 21 to member l8 and is held in raised position, as in Figure 5, by links 28 and 29 which are pivoted together, link 28 being pivoted to shelf 26 and link 29 to member l8. When the shelf is lowered links 28 and 29 occupy recess 28.

Links 28 and 29 are pivoted together at 28"- and are held in position of Figure 5 by spring 28, the latter preventing undesired downward movement of pivot 28, which is, in Figure 5, slightly above the straightline from the point of connection of link 28 with shelf 26 to the point of connection of link 29 with member 18.

Shelf member 26 when raised to working position has a portion 30 extending inwardly horizontally beyond hinge 21 so that it rests on the bottom wall of opening 25 in member l8, thus giving additional support for shelf 26, the length of shelf 26 being such that when shelf 26 is lowered, the

extension 30 will not interfere with closing of member 23. When shelf 26 is in its lowest position member 12 acts as a closure for that portion of opening 25 below member 23, which portion was occupied by extension 30 when shelf 26 was in its elevated position. It will be seen that shelf 26 can not be raised until member 23 is swung open.

Shelf 26 is provided with an upwardly projecting ledge at 3| and 32 to prevent anything, such as a pencil or papers or a typewriter, from slipping oil from shelf 26, ledge portion 32 also acting as a stop for member 23 which also prevents the slipping 011 above referred to.

Wall member 33 may be suitably and removably connected to members l5 and I1 so that it may be interchanged with member 13. A filler piece 35 is suitably attached to member 33 to correspond with the extension of top i beyond the vertical face of member 33 and to serve as a base for hinges 36 upon which shelf 31 swings, shelf 31 being held up by links 38 and 39 pivoted together at 40 and held rigid by spring 4|, these parts be ing similar to the support for shelf 26. When shelf 31 is lowered the links 39 and 39 fold in place alongside the vertical face of member 33 and below filler piece 35.

The front of my article, as appears in Figure 1, comprises a door 42 hinged at 43 to post 9 and may have a lock and handle 44, combination or otherwise, to lock the door closed, and this lock may be combined with other known mechanism to look all other movable parts.

Beneath the door 42 is a plurality of drawers 45, each of these being, in the form shown, of a different height from all the others of the plurality, but they could be of any size to fit the vertical space from member ill to member 9 and they might be more or less in number than the five shown. The door 42 mayof course be of any desired height. A very important feature of my invention is that the drawers, as shown, are interchangeable in their vertical arrangement, that is to say, they may be rearranged with vertical relation to each other but in such cases of rearrangement they will fill the vertical space between members 9 and ID. If desired a slide may be substituted for a drawer.

With reference to Figure 6 it will be seen that the bottom 46 of drawer 45 has an extension at 41 beyond its side 43 to ride in slot 49 in filler piece i 5. This particular slot 49 is just like other slots 49 in filler piece l5 arranged equidistantly at the inner vertical face of piece I 5. Each drawer or slide will be of a height equal to the space between the bottoms of adjacent slots or will be of a height which will be an exact multiple of such space, this being true if it is desired to completely fill the vertical space between members 9 and iii. For example, if this space is to be filled completely, as shown in Figure 1, by a bottom drawer 4 inches in height beneath two drawers each 3 inches in height, these being beneath a drawer 2 inches in height which itself is beneath a drawer 1 inch in height, these drawers could be interchanged vertically in any arrangement desired and they would still fill said space. If desired a bottom drawer 5 inches in height and above it a drawer 4 inches in height and above that another drawer 4 inches in height could be used, and used interchangeably, to completely fill said space. If desired, the whole or any portion of the vertical space between members 9 and may be left unoccupied or one or more slides could be used for shelves.

Referring to Figure 5 I show a movable platform 50 appearing in full lines in itsuppermost, and in dotted lines in its lowest, position. Normally the platform and any article on it is in the raised position due to being held in place by 5 the counterweight 5| connected to the platform by cords 52 running over pulleys 53. Upward movement of the platform may be limited by any suitable stop.

The platform is forced down, as, for example, 10 by hand and when in its lowest position it may be locked there by any suitable lock.

By way of one example of use I show a type-I writer 51 in place on the platform when the latter is suitably locked, as above referred to, in its lowest position. By releasing the locking device the counterweight raises the typewriter and platform to the full line position of the latter, the platform being then level with shelf 26 so that the typewriter may be slid from the platform to shelf 26 through opening to take its full line position in Figure 5. The top i is then lowered to the position shown in Figure 1.

In use the shelf 26 is at a lower level than shelf 31 for secretarial use, for example, because it is 25 the more convenient and usual height desired for writing machines and shelf 31 is at the usual height desired for desks or tables. These differences in height may be desirable for other uses.

A distinct advantage of having shelves 26 and 31 mounted on the sides l8 and 33, so that they both may turn on vertical pivots, such as I9, is that the shelves may be swung to positions such that the user will have ready access from one sitting position to shelf 26 or shelf 31 or top I, or two or more of them, as desired.

The corner 58 of shelf 26, as shown in Figure 3, is cut away to permit said shelf being lowered or raised without interference with the under side of member 23 when the latter is in its full open position.

An advantage of my article of furniture is that wall 33 and the parts mounted on it may be interchanged with wall i3 and the parts mounted on it, so that wall 33 could be at the left in Figure 5 and wall l8 at the right in Figure 5.

The interchangeable feature of the drawers above described is claimed in another application of mine now pending, to wit, in my application Serial No. 679,558 filed July 8, 1933.

What I claim is:

1. An article of furniture comprising a frame consisting of a front portion, a rear portion and another portion connecting said front and rear portions to hold the latter in proper relative position, the top of said connecting portion being below the tops of said front and rear portions; a wall connected to said frame; and a shelf pivotally connected to said wall, a portion of the top of the wall being at a level which is below the level 60 of the top of said connecting portion to an extent substantially equal to the thickness of said shelf.

2. An article of furniture comprising a frame; two walls pivotally connected to the frame; a shelf pivoted to one of said walls to swing about a horizontal axis; means to hold said shelf in raised position when desired; another shelf pivoted to the other of said walls to swing about a horizontal axis, the latter axis being substantially lower than the first-mentioned axis in order to provide two shelves at different heights; and means to hold said other shelf in raised position when desired.

3. An article of furniture comprising a frame provided with walls forming a closure; two other -a top pivoted on a horizontal pivot to said support and normally forming a closure for the device; a shelf separate from said top and pivotally connected with said support on a horizontal pivot which is below the pivot of said top; means to hold the shelf in horizontal position when desired; and a platform within the support, resting normally below the level of the top of said shelf when the latter is in its horizontal position but movable up to said level, and whenat said level being below the horizontal plane of the horizontal pivot of said top.

5. An article of furniture comprising a support;

' a top pivoted on a horizontal pivot to said support and normally forming a closure for the device; a shelf separate from said top and pivotally connected with said support on a horizontal pivot which is below the pivot of said top; means to hold the shelf in horizontal position when desired; a platform within the support, resting nor- 5 mally below the level of the top of said shelf when the latter is in its horizontal position but movable upto said level, and when at said level being below the horizontal plane of said horizontal pivot; and means to raise said platform to said 10 level.

6, An article of furniture comprising a support having a wall; a closure member pivoted to said support; a shelf pivoted to said wall and having a cut-out; the pivot of the shelf being spaced I! from oneend of the shelf a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said wall; said closure member acting as a backer for said shelf when the latter is open and said cut-out permitting lowering of said shelf without interference with said Q.

closure member.

ANDREW D. FULLER. 

